Canadian gold: Medicine Hat All-Stars headed to Junior Little League World Series

Sunday’s victory was a watershed moment for the local club, being the first team out of the Medicine Hat Little League system to win a Canadian title.

Watching his players settle for bronze medals in back-to-back years at nationals, head coach Dean Harrison said it feels like redemption for the AAA All-Stars and his 13 and 14-year-old competitors.

“I sat with the coaches last night and I said, ‘I’m kind of sick and tired of that third place game, I’ve been in it for two years in a row,’” said Dean. “When we had that great comeback yesterday it was like, ‘Okay, now we can do something here.’”

That comeback on Saturday was a thrilling 6-5 victory over top-seeded Team Quebec, that included a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Cade Harrison stepped up a hero, connecting on a one-out double to send the Cinderella All-Stars through to Sunday’s gold medal game.

After winning the Alberta championship at home last month, it was an up and down national tournament for Medicine Hat in the round-robin with a 2-3 record through their first five games.

Needing a win to grab the final playoff spot, Medicine Hat fended off Team British Columbia with a 7-5 win to avoid elimination.

From there, it was an upset victory over Quebec and a strong afternoon at the plate Sunday against the Cape Breton Sooners to capture Canadian gold.

“Every at-bat we focused on good at-bats,” said pitcher Caleb Garrecht. “Not swinging at balls, swinging at strikes, and just getting on base.”

It was the Sooners getting the early lead in the championship tilt however, with Luther Clair skying one to right field and scoring Gahan Rector for Team Atlantic in the first inning.

Team Alberta took advantage of some shaky pitching from the Sooners in the top of the third though, benefiting from a pair of walks with the bases loaded to give Medicine Hat their first lead of the day.

An RBI single by Cape Breton in the bottom half of the inning once again tied the game at 2-2, but that’s when the game broke wide open for the All-Stars.

Kevan Schafer grounded out in the top of the fourth to bring in two runs for Medicine Hat to make it a 4-2 score, before RBIs in the fifth inning from Garrecht and Trevin Ressler would extend that lead to four.

Garrecht continued his championship-calibre day on both sides of ball in the sixth inning with a hard-hit single to centre field to add a run, which was followed by a walk with the bases loaded to Medicine Hat’s Waylon Watson.

After serving as semi-final hero on Saturday, Harrison padded his stats again in the gold medal final with an RBI double in the seventh inning to bring home the team’s ninth run.

“Once we had a rally going, from there it just kept going and kept going,” said Cade.

An error charged to the Sooners boosted Medicine Hat’s runs to double-digits later in the inning, before Watson sprawled out in centre field for the game’s final out to send the gloves flying.

Sunday’s win belonged to Garrecht who not only went 1-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs, but pitched a complete game for Medicine Hat with just two earned runs allowed on 10 hits and four strikeouts.

Garrecht said he was thrilled to get the chance to start in the national gold medal game, however he knew he had to live up to the stage.

“It shows that my coaches have confidence in me and it was a lot of fun on the mound,” he said.

Trading in their Medicine Hat caps for a maple leaf, the All-Stars will represent Canada at the upcoming 2019 Junior Little League World Series in Taylor, Michigan.

There they will face not only the top six teams from the United States, but from around the world including Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia.

An honour that Dean said usually has been reserved for their winter counterparts, but no longer.

“Don’t get me wrong we’re a hockey country,” he said. “All of those hockey players talk about wearing that maple leaf and playing for your country. These kids see that and now they get a chance to do it in baseball, and I think this is going to be a great experience for these kids.”

Cade admitted getting the chance to wear his nation’s colours is one that he might not ever get again, which he said makes winning the Canadian crown even more special.

“Dream from the start, dream from when I was six years old,” he said. “This has been the best experience of my life.”

It’s a short turnaround for the Medicine Hat club as they will open up the Junior Little League World Series as Team Canada on August 11 against Team Puerto Rico.

by Scott Roblin

Canadian gold: Medicine Hat All-Stars headed to Junior Little League World Series

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